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Abstract

Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a devastating disease characterized by increased pulmonary artery pressure, leading to right ventricle hypertrophy and ultimately heart failure and death. Sirt1 is an NAD+ dependent deacetylase that has been strongly implicated in maintaining EC homeostasis in systemic vessels, but little is known about its role in the lung vasculature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of Sirt1 in PH induced by chronic hypoxia (CH). Hypothesis: Sirt1 maintains endothelial function and protects against pulmonary vascular remodeling in response to CH.

Conclusion: Sirt1 protects against hypoxia-induced PH. In addition to its well known role in maintaining endothelial function, Sirt1 may regulate HIF-EPO signalling, and the increase in PH in response to CH in the KO mice may in part be due to marked increases in red cell production and blood viscosity